FREE Maxwell Render for Sketchup (free version).
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Thanks Jason, I'll give it a whirl!
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Got it, Jason!!
Another thing; with the latest release I notice that when you click the Fire render button it starts rendering straight away... can that be changed? I recall the previous versions would allow you to edit the parameters of the render before firing up!! -
Just open the scene editor without hitting the Fire button... but I haven't upgraded yet. Doesn't that still work?
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In the Maxwell Scene Manager>"Options" tab>"General" subsection you should see a "Start Maxwell Fire" option, which you will want to set to "Manually".
Best.
Jason. -
That's what I needed, thanks Jason!!
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Is the requirement for Silverlight 4 with Fire going to end soon? I now have the choice to watch movies or run Maxwell...
Whereas it's so slow I would like to do both at once 
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Silverlight is being phased out -- the Grass palette is a preview of this, as per this post: http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=357436#p357436
Best,
Jason. -
Thanks Jason! That's interesting and good to hear. Peter
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Am I right in saying that Maxwell doesn't recognize section cuts and hence won't render floor plans?
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Maxwell does not currently recognize section cuts (because they are not real geometry) -- Maxwell has something similar called Z-Clipping, which can be used for floor plans... however it's worth noting that Maxwell also has some issues with non-perspective based camera views. So a true floor plan would be tricky (though if you are willing to accept a slight fudge factor it can be done).
Best,
Jason. -
Thanks Jason,
Are you talking about the full Maxwell Suite or Maxwell for SketchUp?
As for non perspective based views I guess I could wind out the FOV to near 0 and render..?
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Both. Maxwell cameras always operate in 3-point perspective, so orthographic and 2-point perspectives are "approximate" matches... which is often close enough. The plugin should automatically make the adjustments for you.
To be clear about what I said before: you can setup section cuts using SketchUp, but you would have to "bake" them into the geometry, either manually or via a plugin.
Best,
Jason. -
Thanks Jason, you're da Maxwell Man!!!!!
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Small (dumb?) question.
When I add a picture to an object in sketchup and render using Maxwell for Sketchup then the image doesn't render.
Do I do something wrong ? or do I need to set some settings to make it work ?Peter
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Could you clarify exactly how you are adding the picture?
Best,
Jason. -
Hi Jason, Is there a way to view the mxm files from the Insert dialog box? [See attached screenshot]
Would be nice to know what the materials look like rather than relying in names...
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The full render suite installs a thumbnail viewer so that you can view the material previews like you would any other program thumbnail... however I'm pretty sure the stand-alone plugin does not have this due to the lack of MXED.
I really feel like the lack of MXED is crippling to the stand alone version and I hope this is resolved somehow in future updates... as a user of the stand alone plugin my number one request would be to either improve the material editing controls in the plugin itself or include MXED in the package and I would make those requests directly here:
If enough users make the request I'm sure something would happen.
Best,
Jason. -
Thanks mate, I will!
Another thing: attached is a screenshot of a render in progress. You'll see a png of a Fig tree in the model which I have wound back the opacity for clarity behind but when rendered the image almost doesn't show. Am I better off changing the opacity in the image itself prior to importing it in as a component?
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Yeah definitely, the way the plugin interprets SketchUp material Opacity is not good for this type of stuff -- partially because it always makes it shiny (to mimic glass).
Best,
Jason. -
ok, cheers.
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